


Here on Earth

by skund



Category: The Authority
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-08
Updated: 2010-07-08
Packaged: 2017-10-10 10:51:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/98940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skund/pseuds/skund
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One night two men walk into a bar... Just a test run of my muses, I guess. Set sometime during the Millar/Quietly "we're more powerful (and more drunk) than god" era.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here on Earth

The bar was some hole in the wall place in Ohio. Orlando. Oklahoma. Whatever, something with ‘O’. They could have gone anywhere - to New York to rub up against all the beautiful, young things, or somewhere in ‘Frisco where the music was loud and the clothes were louder. Find somewhere quiet and smoky in London with a roaring open fire, or desperately colonial and oh so dated in Sydney – jagerbombs were so last year. Better yet, they could have stayed in with a few bottles of whiskey each and the Carrier playing Buffy reruns all night. But no, Midnighter has a thing about ‘connecting with the people’ so here they were all civvied up in some dive in the middle of God knows where. Apollo had eyed the bar disdainfully as they’d entered. He was all for the people, he’d give his life for justice and equality for the masses and all that, but that didn’t mean he had to drink with them.

They’d taken a table up the back, nice and inconspicuous, and spent a pleasant hour downing shots of whiskey with beer chasers. The alcohol was thrumming nicely through Apollo’s blood and the world was delightfully fuzzy around the edges. Midnighter, back in the corner and eyes always roaming, was sprawled a little less lethally than usual. One foot was kicked out haphazardly to the side and he was leaning on his opposite arm, stretched out across the table top. Their conversation had trailed off into companionable silence half an hour ago and now Apollo, head propped up with one hand, just watched his lover watching the room. He looked like some fucking great cat, all lazy like that.

Apollo smiled slowly and those eyes, golden as the whiskey pounding through his veins, turned to fix on him. Midnighter cocked an eyebrow and Apollo reached with his free hand to lay two fingers on Midnighter’s forearm draped across the table. He traced small circles against the leather of Midnighter’s bomber jacket which was ridiculously similar to his longcoat – who did he think he was fooling? Midnighter was watching him casual intent, like a cat at a bird show. Apollo flipped his head playfully, but the effect was lost with his hair tucked up under an ugly baseball cap. Damn civvies. He finger walked his hand up Midnighter’s arm to wrap his fingers around his elbow. Midnighter moved towards him with a sly smile half a second before he started to pull at the captured elbow. Smug bastard. The bartender kept throwing them dirty looks, which Midnighter was no doubt cataloguing and analysing and which Apollo duly ignored.

On impulse Apollo leaned across the table and dropped a kiss on Midnighter’s cheek, before rising and heading to the men’s room. Let the sneaky bastard computer try to analyse that. Midnighter sat back and resumed his watch on the room, but Apollo could feel those eyes following his arse as he walked. The barkeep was glaring at them both now, eyes flicking between the pair of them and lip curling in disgust. Apollo thought he must have some sort of mental problem, before it dawned on him. Oh. Right. Like they needed his filthy, piss stained bathroom to fuck in. He could have Midnighter on silk sheets in a two thousand dollar hotel room, or their own bed in their own place, or the pope’s fucking holy balcony. Apollo flashed a cheeky grin and a wave at the barkeeper as he passed by to the toilets and the man was instantly redfaced. Apollo smiled. Whatever. ‘The people’ were so over rated. When he emerged again Midnighter was already walking towards him and in unison they turned and headed to the exit.

The late night air outside had a bite to it. Probably not Orlando then. They walked down the empty street, because neither had a better suggestion. Apollo was wavering slightly, but would never admit to it. Beside him Midnighter was a rock, as always. Apollo wasn’t covering as well as he thought – he triped on a low stoop and Midnighter’s hands on his shirt is all that stops him from hitting the pavement. Midnighter backs him up into the wall and leans in close and Apollo’s too uncoordinated to do more but move with him. One moment Midnighter is all determination and steel and then he melted against Apollo’s body like he was born to it. Apollo’s arms slid around his waist at the same time as Midnighter’s hands loosed in his shirt to glide up to cup his face. The world is slowly spinning for Apollo before their lips even touch. Their kisses taste like whisky and the distilled piss these sad fucks called beer.

“So, you had enough of ‘the people’ for tonight?” Apollo’s had his fill of silence.

“I got all the people I need right here.” Midnighter leans in for another kiss.

Apollo beams, literally, haloing them both in a golden glow. Midnighter’s hands are in his hair, throwing that awful cap to the ground.

“So what was the point of sitting in that cesspit all night?”

“Sometimes I need to remember we’re people too.”

“What? Of course we’re people. You have strange ideas sometimes.”

Midnighter gave him a cryptic look, like he’d been trying to describe the sky to a fish. Then he seemed to shake it off. “Shut up. Let’s just go home already.”

Now that, Apollo could do. “Door.”


End file.
